The Lure is Set

“Enough with the idle talk,” Xuan Gu cut him off coldly. “Help me find the Nine-Bend Spirit Ginseng first. After that, you can dispose of the brat and take his body.”

“No problem. With the two of us using the ‘Soul Search Grand Art,’ finding one little spirit ginseng will be like reaching into a bag for something,” the man said dismissively.

“Then let’s begin.” With those words, Xuan Gu’s expression darkened as he flicked his sleeve downward.

Two slender streams of black qi shot out from his sleeve, vanishing in a flash. The moment they touched the ground, they burrowed in without pausing and disappeared from sight.

At the same time, an extremely faint green light flickered once beneath Xuan Gu’s feet, then vanished just as quickly.

Xuan Gu himself floated in the low air, his brows lowered and eyes closed, his entire body perfectly still.

…

On the other side, in an open space near the rocky mountain, Han Li was idly toying with a yellow formation flag. His expression was composed, but his eyes flickered uneasily, as if he were weighing a problem, a trace of hesitation visible in his brow.

Suddenly, he raised his hand. A streak of yellow light flew out, and the small flag in his hand planted itself firmly in the ground.

“Even if I can’t see anything wrong with this formation flag, do you really think I’d come without any precautions?” Han Li muttered to himself, a faint, cold smile curling at the corner of his mouth.

He then reached into his storage pouch and retrieved over a dozen very similar yellow flags, which exuded a dense earthen spiritual energy.

Gazing at these shimmering flags, a strange look crossed Han Li’s face.

…

Not long after, on the other side, Xuan Gu’s expression shifted. He suddenly opened his eyes.

The two streams of black qi and the single green light shot up from the ground at the same time, flying back into Xuan Gu’s body.

“Found it. That Nine-Bend Spirit Ginseng sure knows how to hide. It’s embedded its main body in the hollow of a huge boulder. If you weren’t looking carefully, you’d never notice,” the deep-voiced man said in Xuan Gu’s mind, a hint of pride in his tone.

“Good. Now that it’s found, let’s see if that brat has set the formation flags and taken the bait. You need to be careful—don’t show yourself casually. Don’t let him discover you,” Xuan Gu warned solemnly.

“Don’t worry. The technique I’m using to assume this form is undetectable unless it’s by the divine sense of a Nascent Soul cultivator. No, the real issue is if you can’t control him later. Don’t count on me to help. That Golden Lightning Bamboo of his is a bane to formless, violent spirits like me. I have no intention of being erased by that evil-repelling divine lightning,” the man said, laying his cards on the table.

“Hmph. Dealing with some junior at the early Core Formation stage won’t require your help. If I’m going to make a move against this man, I’ll naturally only do so when I’m absolutely certain. And you don’t need to fear his Evil-Repelling Divine Lightning. The Golden Lightning Bamboo flying swords he used in our fight the other day were just released not long ago. Even if some residual divine lightning remains in the treasures, it should have been mostly exhausted while passing through the Ghost Mist. For now, his Golden Lightning Bamboo flying swords are nothing to fear. What truly gives me pause is that swarm of golden and silver beetles he released that day. With all my experience, I still can’t identify those insects. That is rather strange. While I don’t know exactly what kind of spirit insects they are, I suspect they are a bit more powerful than the ordinary kind,” Xuan Gu said, his expression flat.

“Oh. If there’s no Evil-Repelling Divine Lightning, then this man poses no real threat. I’ll decide whether or not to intervene depending on how things unfold,” the man said, his tone relaxing.

Upon hearing this, Xuan Gu’s mouth twitched slightly, but he said nothing further.

Although he held a strand of the man’s soul essence, he knew in his heart that it wasn’t enough to fully control him. The other party had spent years immersed in the ghostly path; his mastery of soul control techniques was actually a notch above his own. At best, forcing the issue would only result in the man suffering significant damage to his vitality before breaking free.

He had no intention of pushing the man too far.

Xuan Gu glanced around, then transformed into a mass of dark clouds and flew in the direction where Han Li was.

Moments later, he found Han Li and descended.

The place was relatively flat, overgrown with wild grass, and had a small grove of several dozen sparse trees standing behind it.

“Is it set up?” Xuan Gu asked in a neutral tone as soon as he appeared before Han Li.

“Of course it is. It’s right over there.” Han Li leaned against a large tree, pointing lazily behind him.

Xuan Gu focused his gaze and, sure enough, sensed a strong fluctuation of earthen spiritual energy coming from the grove behind Han Li.

Secret delight stirred within Xuan Gu.

He then took a jade box from his storage pouch and opened the lid right in front of Han Li.

“What’s this?”

The moment the jade box opened, a pungent, foul odor assaulted their noses. Han Li snapped upright, immediately holding his breath. He took a few cautious steps back, his face wary as he eyed Xuan Gu suspiciously.

“No need to be suspicious. This is the feces of a Musk Orchid Beast. As unpleasant as it smells, it is extremely enticing to the Nine-Bend Spirit Ginseng. Once we place it within the formation, the ginseng’s incarnation is certain to come looking for it. Once we capture the incarnation, we can calmly dig up the ginseng’s main body without worrying about it transforming and escaping again.” Xuan Gu glanced sidelong at Han Li, his expression unchanged.

“Musk Orchid Beast feces?”

Hearing this, Han Li looked at the jade box in Xuan Gu’s hand.

He could now see clearly: it was a small, thumb-sized, yellowish lump. The intense odor was emanating from it.

Han Li couldn’t help but feel a bit dumbfounded.

Of course, he knew what a “Musk Orchid Beast” was. It was a strange spirit beast raised by cultivators. The fiery red horn on its head emitted a unique fragrance with the miraculous effect of calming the mind and settling the spirit, making it quite popular among cultivators.

He never imagined that the feces of this very spirit beast would smell so horrible. And that a spiritual object like the Nine-Bend Spirit Ginseng would actually be attracted to it.

This left Han Li somewhat speechless.

After glancing at Xuan Gu’s utterly expressionless face, however, Han Li broke into a smile and said:

“In that case, please go ahead and place this item within the formation, Senior. I’ll go check the formation flags one more time to make sure everything is set properly. Then I’ll wait here to capture the incarnation. As for digging up the main body of the Nine-Bend Spirit Ginseng, I’ll leave that trouble to you, Senior.” Having said this, Han Li clasped his fist, then turned and walked into the grove behind him. Using some unknown technique, he soon vanished from sight.

Xuan Gu was momentarily taken aback.

Staring at the grove brimming with earthen spiritual energy, he frowned slightly.

But after a brief twitch at the corner of his mouth, he raised his hand.

A strange serpent formed from black qi bit onto the jade box and flew straight into the center of the grove. It set the box down firmly on the ground before flying back.

Once this was done, Han Li was still nowhere to be seen. A flash of grimness crossed Xuan Gu’s face.

Without another word, he took to the air and flew away.

“What’s this? You tampered with the formation flags yourself, and now you’re the one getting cold feet?” The deep-voiced man’s mocking words suddenly echoed in Xuan Gu’s mind.

“It never hurts to be cautious. First, let me test whether that formation was actually set up using the flags I gave him. While the chance that he also happens to have earthen-attribute formation flags on him is negligible, I’m not about to take any risks,” Xuan Gu said nonchalantly.

“If you had been this cautious back then, you wouldn’t have ended up in this situation. It seems that bitter lesson really did teach you something, Brother Xuan Gu,” the man said with a smacking sound.

Xuan Gu couldn’t tell whether the other man was praising him or ridiculing him. He let out a frustrated grunt and ignored the man from then on.

Floating in the air, Xuan Gu halted. He spread the five fingers of his right hand, and another yellow formation flag appeared in his palm.

This flag looked exactly like the four he had given to Han Li, except it was much shorter and more compact.

Xuan Gu gave the small flag a solemn look and gently shook it a few times.

The flag immediately emitted a faint yellow glow. After spinning once in Xuan Gu’s hand, it pointed straight toward the grove below.

Seeing this, Xuan Gu let out a long sigh of relief. A sinister smile crept onto his face.

He put the small flag away, glanced once more at the direction of the grand formation, and then flew straight toward a certain spot on the small rocky mountain.

It was only then that Han Li finally emerged from the grove.

He watched Xuan Gu’s distant form, a cold glint flashing in his eyes. Then his expression shifted, and his form blurred. In an instant, he vanished from the spot, leaving behind only a patch of grass rustled by the wind.

…

Time passed slowly. The stench emanating from the jade box on the ground grew stronger and stronger. Han Li, who was lying in ambush on a large tree nearby, frowned deeply and was forced to keep his breath held.

But as time dragged on, his heart began to sink.

He really didn’t have much time left here. If the Nine-Bend Spirit Ginseng didn’t take the bait and appear, he would have no choice but to give up and return first.

Just as Han Li was lost in thought, a subtle stir came over his expression. His spiritual sense detected a small object entering the grove. Surprised and delighted, Han Li immediately concealed his aura completely, his eyes fixed unblinkingly on the spot where the jade box lay.

A flash of yellow light appeared. A rabbit, looking timid and cautious, emerged on the grass outside the formation.

The rabbit was pure white, with a pair of blood-red eyes that rolled around ceaselessly. It kept glancing left and right, looking extremely skittish.

Still, its pink nose twitched constantly in the direction of the jade box, and a very human-like expression of blissful intoxication appeared on its face from time to time.

The odor that Han Li found so unbearable seemed, to this little creature, to be an absolute delight.

(Hehe! Wang Yu wishes everyone a Happy New Year! There will be another chapter tonight, but it might be a bit late. Feel free to read it the next day!)